The LSE Directory / Retail brokers
Firstrade Securities Inc. is a US online discount brokerage that lets self-directed retail investors trade stocks, ETFs, options, mutual funds, fixed income and cryptocurrency through commission-free web and mobile platforms. It charges $0 for stock, ETF, options and mutual fund trades, sets no account minimum for standard brokerage accounts, and offers access to more than 11,000 mutual funds. In April 2025 it added an overnight trading session running 8pm to 4am ET, on top of an existing extended-hours window of 8am to 8pm, letting customers act outside standard NYSE and Nasdaq hours; in June 2026 it rolled out real-time buying power and no cap on day trades for eligible accounts, subject to a $2,000 minimum, aligning with FINRA's revised intraday margin framework. Firstrade competes on price and platform breadth rather than advice: it is an execution-and-tools brokerage with no wrap-fee advisory arm, aimed at cost-conscious, self-directed traders. It has a distinctive multilingual base rooted in its Flushing, New York origins, with customer service and platform interfaces offered in English, Mandarin and Cantonese (Traditional and Simplified Chinese), which the company and independent reviewers describe as a particular draw for Chinese-American and international investors. Its cryptocurrency offering, live nationwide since May 2022 through the subsidiary Firstrade Crypto LLC, trades roughly three dozen coins inside the same brokerage account rather than a separate wallet app, with execution and custody handled by Apex Crypto LLC under a software licensing agreement. The firm traces to 1985, when John Liu founded it in Flushing, Queens as First Flushing Securities, serving the investment needs of local Chinese immigrants; it adopted the Firstrade name and launched Firstrade.com in 1997, and Liu remains CEO. It is a FINRA and SIPC member broker-dealer, with SIPC account coverage of up to $500,000 supplemented by an additional private insurance policy covering up to $37.5 million. Kiplinger's Personal Finance has named it a "Best Online Broker" every year since 2018, with further recognition from Forbes and Benzinga in 2025. In November 2025 it introduced Options Builder, a strategy visualization and execution tool, followed in December 2025 by Invest 3.0, a redesigned web trading platform. Marking its 41st year in business, Firstrade ran a 30-location outdoor advertising campaign across Manhattan in July and August 2026, and has been a sponsor of international volleyball, including Volleyball World's "First Play by Firstrade" grassroots program and the 2025 Women's Volleyball Nations League stop in Arlington, Texas, part of a consumer brand push running alongside its trading-platform updates.
